Rafa Nadal was the star of the Castelló Masters on Wednesday. His participation in the Pro-Am along with Sergio García and Manuel de los Santos gathered all the attention of the fans who came to the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo where they also had the opportunity to see many popular faces such as Johan Cruyff, Bernd Schuster, Pepín Liria, Juan Luis Giménez, Miguel Ángel Nadal, José Manuel Casañ or Abel Resino.
The world golf star won the Pro-Am in the team captained by Sergio Garcia, and with Manuel de los Santos, with a total of 23 strokes under par.
From today, only golf and good golf, in the Castellón course where the fight for the fourth edition of the Castelló Masters begins, which will distribute two million euros in prize money. The host, Sergio García, the defending champion and champion of the Malaysian Open, Matteo Manassero, and the recent winner of the Portugal Masters, tee off at 8.55 a.m. on the 10th tee.
In the afternoon, José Mª Olazábal will play in the same match as the two-time champion Alexander Noren (Wales Open and Swedish Masters) and the winner of the French Open, Thomas Levet, at 1.10 p.m. on the 1st tee. They will be followed on the same tee by the winner of the BMW International Open, Pablo Larrazábal, along with Colin Montgomerie and John Daly.
Sergio Garcia and Rafa Nadal attended yesterday the media with Tom Lewis after playing the Pro Am.
Rafa Nadal
“I would like to congratulate Tom Lewis and wish him all the luck for the future, it is admirable that he managed to win in his third tournament as a professional. The only advice I can give him is to enjoy himself and try to stay motivated and excited to keep improving throughout his career.
It is always very nice to play here with Sergio, and this year also with Manuel de los Santos. He has an impressive merit and we must congratulate him for the example he sets for the whole society. My game has gone from less to more, I have played better than last year, but the most important thing is that it has been a fabulous day and I have enjoyed golf. I have hardly had time to play in the last few months.
It is certainly easier to reach Pete Sampras’ 0.9 handicap than to equal his 14 majors. In golf I have many years ahead of me although it will be difficult to reach him if I don’t change my swing. In tennis, you have a limited number of years and you don’t depend only on yourself, there is no comparison between the two.
I am satisfied with the season, I have played 10 finals and won 3 tournaments, one of them Roland Garros, also it will be the seventh consecutive year that I finish in the top two in the world and that entails a tremendous difficulty. I hope to continue in this line next season.
I watched the Real Madrid game and the feeling is that the team is better. I think Cristiano Ronaldo tries to make sure that others can finish plays, not just him. Normally, the one who scores the goal gets the glory, but he has played three great games without scoring and that has a double value in his case, he is a winner and a superstar. If he keeps this up he can keep scoring the same goals.
Mourinho and Guardiola have very different personalities. They are both facing questions all day long that are not always very comfortable and that makes them more defensive, that happens to all of us. I know them and neither of them are what they show in front of the cameras, neither of us are.
I love soccer and I’m helping a team in Manacor, I’ve got my card but only to help them. Maybe I can participate in some training, but only for fun, I would not play seriously.
I have never considered being a professional golfer, not even when I was injured at the age of 18, it would be quite arrogant of me to say that, it is not something you decide in two days. If you don’t dedicate yourself to a sport from an early age, it’s impossible to dedicate yourself to it professionally. The only thing I want to do with golf is to have fun.
I am very optimistic that the world ranking system will change. There is a general movement of players in that direction. It is difficult but steps are being taken, today I am more optimistic than ever that there can be changes.
Federer will continue to play as long as he is willing to fight. Everything has a beginning and an end but that doesn’t mean he’s going to retire, in fact, I’ve always heard him say he’d like to have a long career. He can go down in the rankings, but he can also go up. He’s come close to winning on several occasions this season, plus I don’t think he’s playing for his ranking but to be competitive.
The ranking is very important, but it is not the priority. The important thing is to be competitive, to feel that you can face any player in the world and beat him.
The Davis Cup has an old format and only benefits the International Federation. Theoretically, its strength is that we represent our country, but I always represent my country wherever I compete. It is a tournament that I have always loved and I will play it whenever I can, but it is a complicated format and we will see what happens in the future. It is very difficult for the best players in the world to participate because of the demanding schedule we have”.
Sergio Garcia:
“It has been a great day. I am very grateful to Rafa for coming again to Castellón where we love to see him even if it is not playing tennis. I had played with Manuel de los Santos a couple of times before and it is impressive how he plays with only one leg, the speed of his stick and the punch, he is also very consistent. Manuel has a lot of fun on the course and is very charming.
Tomorrow I will play with Matteo Manassero and Tom Lewis, it will be a lot of fun. In golf you have to work very hard and be humble. It’s also important to surround yourself with good people and have a lot of confidence in your chances. I’m sure Tom knows all that, for now you can see he’s doing very well.
Rafa knows he has to make some changes in his swing, although he is very competitive and is capable of getting results. That’s something you either have or you don’t and he has it whether he’s playing tennis, soccer or golf.
We have not talked about soccer. Madrid and Barcelona are very different teams, it’s a nice rivalry although it’s a shame to see that there is a second league with the rest of the teams. Madrid is taking steps to catch up with Barça but it is complicated with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué…, they are playing at a high level and they are on the right track. Last year we won the Copa del Rey and this year I hope we will win another title.
I have three tournaments left this season, this one, Valderrama and Dubai. It’s been a very positive year and playing in Spain is very special for me”.
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